The pioneering indie-rock band releases 'Bag Boy,' its first new song in 9 years, just 2 weeks after Kim Deal's departure from the group.

First The Replacements, now The Pixies! Can a reunion by Wall of Voodoo or Oingo Boingo be far behind?

Earlier this month, two of the surviving members of the much beloved Minneapolis band The Replacements announced they are reuniting, after 22 years, for three festival appearances later this summer. Now comes word that The Pixies have released their first new song, "Bag Boy," in nine years. just two weeks after bassist/singer Kim Deal left the reunited quartet.

We'll have more on all that in a moment, but first, let's hear "Bag Boy," shall we?

The Pixies "Bag Boy"

Led by Frank Black, The Pixies were formed in 1986, imploded in 1992, reunited in 2004 and last performed in San Diego in late 2010 at UC Diego's RIMAC Arena. In a 2010 interview with U-T San Diego, Black was asked if The Pixies risked becoming an indie-rock nostalgia act if it continued touring without recording and performing any new material.

"That is eventually what happens," he replied. "And you just have to ask yourself: ‘Do you want to go there, and do you get away with it?’ ... I hope that, whatever we end up doing, it’s deep and not a medley of mediocrity."

In a statement released this morning on The Pixies' website, Black said: "The lyrics, coincidentally, were composed at a Starbucks Coffee in Harvard Square in Cambridge, about a hundred feet from where, 25 years ago, I composed some of the lyrics to an old Pixies song called ‘Break My Body.’

"Twenty-five years later, some Starbucks in Harvard Square…I thought that was kind of interesting. The music for the song has been around for a few years. There are some demos I made with Joey and David a few years ago in Los Angeles, related to a film idea that still has yet to see the light of day, although work on the music continued. So a lot of the musical idea had been kicking around for awhile. It’s pretty simple, kind of a blues-based, two-note kind of thing, really."

Deal is conspicuously not mentioned in Black's remarks, although "Bag Boy" features a female backing vocal that certainly sounds like her (or like someone who sounds like her).